ca 578-505 BC, Greece.
Pythagoras became the most influential of the early Greek mathematicians. He is credited with being first to use axioms and deductive proofs, so his influence on Plato and Euclid may be enormous. He and his students, the “Pythagoreans,” were ascetic mystics for whom mathematics was partly a spiritual tool. Pythagoras was very interested in astronomy and recognized that the Earth was a globe similar to the other planets. He believed thinking was located in the brain rather than heart. The words “philosophy” and “mathematics” are said to have been coined by Pythagoras. The Pythagoreans were one of the few ancient schools to practice gender equality.
Pythagoras discovered that harmonious intervals in music are based on simple rational numbers. This led to a fascination with integers and mystic numerology; he is sometimes called the “Father of Numbers” and once said “Number rules the universe.” The Pythagorean Theorem was known long before Pythagoras, but he is often credited with the first proof. He also discovered the simple parametric form of Pythagorean triplets (xx-yy, 2xy, xx+yy).
Other discoveries of the Pythagorean school include concepts of amicable numbers, polygonal numbers, golden ratio (Theano), the five regular solids (Pythagoras), and irrational numbers (Hippasus). It is said that the discovery of irrational numbers upset the Pythagoreans so much they tossed Hippasus into the ocean!
Allen, James Dow. “The Greatest Mathematicians.” 1998-2010.
No comments:
Post a Comment